Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Harvey has "refused treatment." I have to assume that the EPM treatment, an oral suspension ReBalance (syrupy liquid) tastes particularly awful. Because it has to be given on an empty stomach (no food for 1.5 hours before or after) I can't mix it with anything.

It's just me, the med-filled syringe, and Harvey. I don't care what anyone says about the right technique. No one could get 40ml of this stuff into my horse. Harvey is refusing treatment.

His head is up in the rafters, and I'm trying to follow the vet's instruction to get the liquid over the "hump" of the tongue, with a sixty ml syringe. I can get it up there, and squirt it in there. I hold his head up and stroke his throat. Harv has to swallow eventually, right?

No, he does not have to swallow. Harv will stand for 10, 15 minutes making the most awful face. When I let my guard down, he spits it all out. And this stuff ain't cheap.

On the third dose, I got it in him, I bathed him, walked him, and 20 minutes later I turned him out in the outdoor ring. He spit it all out.

Ch-ch-ching.

I called the vet and ordered a different kind of meds -- Oroquin -- because I can't do this for six days, never mind six months. But while the meds are ordered, here is what I did.

I designed a syringe modification, similar to what they use on livestock but smaller and cheaper. It's the basic syringe with a longer stem that is easier and less traumatic to insert. By God, it works! Sunday's dose went in him and stayed in. This long stem lets me get it further into his mouth, with less discomfort for Harv (he stands well), and I think it squirts so far back Harv doesn't taste it. He swallows almost immediately.

IF YOU TRY THIS:

I'll share how I made this if you're interested, but here is a warning. YOU NEED TO INSERT IT CAREFULLY. I am extremely careful about how far to insert it. There are some delicate structures in the back of the throat that you DON'T want to mess with.

3 comments:

I got my horses epm meds through Wedgewood pharmacy. They compounded it into a pink liquid that my horse seemed to like. My vet sold it to me for about $125 so I'm sure they marked it up. When they compound it themselves they can add different flavorings usually.